[Heartlander]

“Karl Marx was thrilled when he read Origin of the Species and he immediately wrote Darwin and asked to dedicate his own major work, Das Kapital to him. Darwin, in his reply, thanked him but said it would be best not to do so. Origin of the Species, was first published in November 1859. The full title of Darwin’s book was On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.”

“In 1866, Marx wrote to Frederick Engels, that Origin of the Species contained the basis in natural history for their political and economic system for an atheist world. Engels, the co-founder of world communism with Marx and Lenin, wrote to Karl Marx in 1859: ‘Darwin, whom I am just now reading, is splendid’ (C. Zirkle, Evolution, Marxian Biology, and the Social Scene, 1959, p. 85). In 1861, Marx wrote to Engels: ‘Darwin’s book is very important and serves me as a basis in natural selection for the class struggle in history’ (op. cit., p. 86). At Marx’s funeral, Engles said that, as Darwin had discovered the law of organic evolution in natural history, so Marx had discovered the law of evolution in human history (Otto Ruhle, Karl Marx, 1948, p. 366).”

Note: The above was to show why many associate Darwin with Marx. In Darwin’s defense though, I do not believe he intended to establish communism with his theory.

[HumanaeVitae]

Thank you for posting that. Scientific materialism is at the core of communism.

[andy_card]

What is this, guilt by association? In addition to the Origin of Species, I've also read Das Kapital. Both are great books. Marx was, without a doubt, one of the greatest philosophers of history in the Western tradition. Was he wrong? Yes. But that doesn't diminish his intellect. I'd have been honored to receive praise from him.